Solving Kashmir issue vital for India, Pak: Imran Khan

Gurgaon: Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Wednesday said time was up for trying to solve India-Pakistan issues through "militancy and militarily" but asserted that unless Kashmir issue was resolved, there was "always a possibility" of Mumbai-like attacks. Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, also said if his party comes to power, he will not allow terrorism against India to originate from his country's soil.

Addressing a World Economic Forum meeting, he said while improvement in bilateral trade was welcome, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir must also progress on a parallel line. Terming a solution to the Kashmir issue as "vital", he said "trade, connections, along with cricket matches will help. At the same time, we should develop some sort of a roadmap to resolve Kashmir issue, which is vital".

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief assured if his party would come to power, he would not allow terrorism against India to originate.

"Because unless we operate on both plains, there is always a possibility, as it happened, relationships were improving, confidence building measures, cricket matches, people-to-people contacts, and then came Mumbai." Stressing the need for a "new relationship", he said "no more trying to resolve our problems through militancy and military but through politics. It should be two-pronged. One to normalise, open up relationships with trade on one side and then start a dialogue on Kashmir."

He also noted that his party has three former Pakistani Foreign Ministers who have told him that they had "come pretty close to resolving" the Kashmir issue. He said lack of trust was a basic problem in Indo-Pak relations which got worse after Mumbai attacks and added that efforts should be made to increase the trust factor.

"We need to have a new relationship. The moment we form the government, we will be able to control militancy and terrorism in our country. Only a strong government can say that 'look we take responsibility for what happens from our soil', whether it is with India or whether it is with the US," Khan said.